Georgia defensive coordinator Dan Lanning was a candidate for Steve Sarkisian's defensive coordinator spot at Texas, but ultimately opted to stay with Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs.
As it often does, that decision came with a pay bump as an added incentive. Seth Emerson shared today that Lanning, who made $1.25 million last year got a significant raise.
Lanning will make $1.7 million next season. That salary will put him among the top coordinators in college football.
The USA Today Salary database for assistant coaches that was compiled based on information available December 16th, 2020 shows that the top three earners, and much of the top 10, are all in new roles. Steve Sarkisian, Kevin Steele, and Bo Pelini accounted for the top three, all making between $2.3 million and $2.5 million. Clemson's Brent Venables and Texas A&M's Mike Elko rounded out the top five and are the only guys among the top five set to return to their respective programs, with each earning above $2 million annually.
Don Brown and Jim Chaney are two of the other coaches among the top ten highest paid coordinators set to coach in new spots this fall, with Brown earning $1.7 million at Michigan and Chaney $1.6 million at Tennessee.
Surely, new names will be added to that list of top coordinators this off season to take the place of those falling off, including some more possible additions to the $2 million coordinator club to join Venables and Elko as details emerge of new deals.
Emerson also shared raises raises and salary figures for a few other coaches as well. Running backs coach Del McGee (from $650k to $800k) and tight ends coach Todd Hartley’s (from $300k to $450k) also earned raises, and Emerson shared that new secondary coach Jahmile Addae will earn $500k.
After shooting down rumors of the addition of Will Muschamp to the support staff a few weeks back, Kirby Smart shared today that Muchamp has officially joined the staff in an analyst role, and the school added that he will make $300k in that capacity.
Nearly two weeks back, Greg Hadley of The State shared that Muschamp and South Carolina agreed to a settlement of his buyout that had the Gamecocks paying him a lump sum of $12.9 million no later than December 31, 2020.
Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.